READING ROOM This page is made available for those who would like to deepen their understanding of The Pristine American Dream. These short articles were written by university students who had read and discussed The Cedar Post. These insights illuminate the principles of The Pristine American Dream and help solidify the reader's resolve to maintiain their inherent rights and go for the great privileges of life.
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The Cedar Post Becky Soderquist Kate Reynolds Elise Grant Our group found the deeper meaning of The Cedar Post to be that humans have the freedom to pursue the Pristine American Dream by being able to earn privileges as they maintain their inherent rights. In the book, the character Ur said, “The Pristine American Dream is the result of maintaining inherent rights and receiving privileges” (p 227). Inherent rights are the inalienable rights that every human is born with, regardless of when they were born, where they were born, or to whom. These rights come to us by virtue of God’s laws and commandments, not the laws of any one country (although some governments do guarantee some rights, like freedom of speech in the U.S.). As Ur states, “A government can’t take them away from you. You won them by virtue of your birth”(p 107). Some examples of inherent rights are the right to love, to learn from our own personal tragedies, to choose our religious beliefs, and to enjoy the company of others. When we maintain our inherent rights—in other words, when we exercise our right to do and be good—we create “a solid foundation for peace of mind, happiness and success, for ourselves, our families and our nation. Rights protect us and provide a secure feeling”(p 105). In one example, the book compares maintaining inherent rights to maintaining a public highway. When the road is maintained and in good condition, traveling is much better for all involved and everyone enjoys greater peace of mind (p 95). However, if we choose to do bad, we are actually waiving our right to do good and turn ourselves over to the effects of a guilty conscience and possibly to unfavorable consequences as well. We sacrifice our peace of mind. Every human being has agency or the power to choose good or bad. However, they only have the right to do good. They never have the right to do bad.
When a human being maintains his inherent rights and chooses to do good, he then has the freedom to earn privileges, which are, as Ur says, “many of the good things of life”(p 227). Some privileges are the privilege to obtain a driver’s license or to obtain better material comforts. These things are not God-given rights to everyone at birth. You must qualify for them. When explaining this principle to Jon, Ur said, “Only the person who has the mightiness to maintain his inherent rights can be safely trusted with the privileges of life”(p 185). Earning privileges takes hard work and dedication; they are not mere handouts for those who have kept their inherent rights. Jon did not have a right to win the state wrestling championship. It was a privilege he earned by first keeping his inherent right to protect the health of his body. He then worked very hard to increase his fitness and skills. His rights allowed him to be free to pursue the privilege and then his hard work helped him to achieve the privilege. However, privileges become dangerous if they are sought before or apart from inherent rights. When explaining this to Jon, Ur said, “The only path to happiness is not in the gaining of wealth and power; it is in the maintaining of your inherent rights”(p 185). If a person does seek privileges without accepting the accompanying responsibilities that come from rights, their privileges may corrupt them and bring misery, while at the same time endangering themselves, their family, community and nation (p 185). All human beings are born with inherent rights that, if maintained, bring them peace of mind and freedom. It is then possible to earn privileges in a way that will perpetuate that peace of mind and freedom (however, privileges are not the outward sign of a person who is maintaining his inherent rights. Good and bad people alike can pursue privileges. Only those maintaining their God-given rights enjoy peace of mind, regardless of privileges earned or circumstances). This is the Pristine American Dream. Pristine means clean, pure, and untainted. In order for the system of inherent rights and earned privileges to function and lead to true happiness and peace of mind, it too must be clean, pure, and untainted. If humans waive their rights by choosing bad, the dream is no longer pristine and cannot lead to that happiness. Furthermore, it can dissolve peace of mind and disrupt other people’s pursuit of the Pristine American Dream. The only way to enjoy continual freedom and happiness is to maintain inherent rights, no matter what the circumstance.
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"The Pristine American Dream" Jamie Woller, Eliza Steele, Nathan Cortez The “Pristine American Dream” is not one-dimensional. It is the original vision of the future that the founding fathers of America had. The “Pristine American Dream” is the ability to live life with a free mind by keeping our inalienable rights and working hard to obtain the privileges possible in America. We are born with inalienable and inherent rights. This means we have the right to make good choices in any situation. Natural rights give us safety and freedom. As people, we have three basic rights that were named by our founding fathers—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. An example of our right to live is our right to wake-up each morning and breathe. Each day we decide to live and protect our bodies from harmful substances, from rape, and from people that intend to harm us. Another fundamental right is liberty. We have the freedom of our beliefs. We can believe in the reality of God or merely that the sun will rise the next day. While we may not be able to manifest our beliefs, we still have the right to think them. We are also entitled to the pursuit of happiness. Happiness is not a right, but the attitude and effort required to try and achieve happiness. Some people would argue that we have a right to be happy. However, happiness itself is a privilege because we have to do something to achieve it. Keeping our rights and choosing good are inseparable. We do not have the right to inflict harm on others or to rob a store. Our inalienable rights keep us safe because we can have the peace of mind that comes from choosing to not waive our rights by choosing evil. While rights are inherently given to us at birth, privileges are achieved by hard work and effort. The difference between a right and a privilege is that we must qualify for a privilege. People who do not choose good and waive their rights can still obtain privileges by working hard. Hard work does not necessarily give us privileges, but through hope and belief they can be achieved. We must believe that we can achieve a goal and gain a specific privilege. Then we must hope that we will figure out the secret to that privilege. And finally, when we attain that privilege, we now have the knowledge of how to gain it again if we lose it. Each of us must be focused and dedicated in order to receive privileges. Privileges are the good things in life like playing basketball, having money, and driving a nice car. However, privileges also include the ability to eat, sleep, walk, and be happy. Privileges range from our most basic needs to our desires for power and prestige. With more power or prestige, comes the ability to influence others. With privileges, keeping our inherent rights becomes vital because our influence is far reaching. In positions of privilege, we can influence people for good or bad. If we keep our inherent rights then we are not dangerous with power or prestige because we only have the right to choose good. When we waive our inherent rights by choosing bad, we risk our privileges and endanger ourselves and others. However, people who maintain their rights after obtaining privileges are people that have achieved the Pristine American Dream. That is the connection between our inherent rights and the privileges we can achieve. Those Americans that keep their rights by choosing good and working hard to obtain privileges compose the purest America envisioned by our founding fathers. We are born with rights, which when we keep them, give us peace of mind and lead us to doing good. As we work hard toward goals, while keeping our rights and doing good, we receive privileges and blessings that help us attain happiness. If Americans understood the true meaning of rights and privileges then all they would have peace in their minds and lives; living the “Pristine American Dream”.
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The Cedar Post Megan Roberts, Julia Haroldsen, Laura Boswell, Erica Newitt, Sarah Graff Carpe Diem “I want to live and I want to grow. I want to see and I want to know. I want to share what I can give. I want to be. I want to live.” These powerful lyrics from a popular John Denver song strike a chord deep in the heart strings of many listeners. There is a desire embedded in every human heart to be great, to suck the marrow out of life, to truly live. But, how? Too often, people face this one simple question and unable to find an answer settle to mediocrity. In his book, The Cedar Post, Jack Rose explores man’s desire to live and gives his formula for how to fulfill this great longing. Much of Rose’s book centers on man’s inherent rights. Rose links these rights with the inalienable rights spoken of by our Founding Fathers. We are born with these inherent rights and they can never be taken away from us. Others may infringe on our rights but they can never take them from us unless we willingly waive them. These rights are given to us by God and are based upon His laws. For example God gave the law, “thou shalt not bear false witness.” Because of this law every person has a right to tell the truth. From this we see that inherent rights are the freedoms that come from obeying God’s commandments. Understanding these freedoms or rights has a great affect in our lives. Inherent rights are a guide for how to lead a happy life. They do not force you to be one way or another, but help guide your attitude. This ability to affect our attitude is the most important aspect of inherent rights. Exercising our inherent rights always brings positive effects. Constantly using our inherent rights brings happiness into our lives in every circumstance either immediately or in due time. For example, one of our greatest inherent rights is the ability to choose our attitude. Because of this right, people can choose to let experiences affect them positively or negatively. If we exercise our right to always have a positive attitude, then we will be happy and constantly choose good in our lives. Once we understand who we are and that we have inherent rights we can then start to exercise them. These natural rights, when applied, will make a difference in life. Our inherent rights are present in every situation. To apply them we must learn to evaluate the situation we are in and then decided which inherent rights are applicable. Then we must choose to exercise our rights to keep ourselves and others happy and safe. It is important to always remember that inherent rights will always lead to positive feelings and attitudes. We do not have an inherent right to choose bad. Inherent rights will never have negative results. We all have the power to choose wrong, but it is not an inherent right. So, we can know if we are properly using our inherent rights by the happiness and other positive results that will always come into our lives as a result. This does not mean life will always be perfect, but we can always hold our heads up high and continue to have a good attitude. One of the greatest blessings that come from keeping our inherent rights is peace of mind. In the book we are compared to a city that is happy and productive (109). Then one day an army shows up and camps out on the borders of the city. Now, the army never attacks but having it so near destroys the peace of the people in the city. Fear now enters into their lives. Without inherent rights and striving to protect them, we too would always live in fear. We would be exactly like this city. But, then a wall is built around the city. Tall and strong, the citizens know this wall will protect them from attack and peace is returned to their lives. This is exactly what inherent rights do for us. If we use our inherent rights constantly in our lives then we have a wall around us. This wall does not prevent hardships in our lives. However, it gives us the peace of mind and strength of spirit to be happy no matter what life throws at us. Another great advantage of maintaining our inherent rights is the safety to earn and keep privileges. Privileges are different from rights because we are not automatically born with them and they can be taken away. A classic example of a privilege is having a driver’s license. A person has to work for a driver’s license. They have to pass test and prove they can be trusted with one. Then after they have earned this privilege, if they are a careless or dangerous driver they can have their license, or their privilege to drive, revoked. It is the same with all the privileges we have. However, privileges are not always reserved for those who keep their inherent rights. There are business men who are dishonest in their dealings and still amass great wealth. There are politicians who are immoral and still enjoy the benefits of a successful career. This seems to put a dent in the importance of inherent rights, but if one just looks a little deeper we can see this is not true. Those who gain privileges without maintaining their inherent rights are never at peace. They are constantly afraid of losing their privileges and are a danger to those around them. The peace and happiness that come from maintaining inherent rights cannot be replaced by anything else. This is why, in the book, the main character, Ur, says, “Only the person who has the mightiness to maintain his inherent rights can be safely trusted with the privileges of life. It is not only nicer cars, houses, vacations, and social power, but more importantly the opportunity to serve our fellow being... Remember the only path to happiness is not the gaining of wealth and power; it is the maintaining of your inherent rights,” (185). The subtitle to Rose’s book is The Pristine American Dream. The challenge of the book is to truly understand this pure American dream and how to have it in our lives. The longing in our souls to live a good life is the ultimate source of this dream. The desire to be free and become all we can is the American dream that first inspired our forefathers. This is all part of the Pristine American Dream. However, the most important part of this dream is understanding and maintaining our inherent rights. In fact, the inherent rights are really the source of our Pristine American Dream. Simply put, the pure American dream can be defined as three desires: the desire to be and do good, the desire to earn privileges through living our inherent rights, the desire to feel safe. When we believe in our inherent rights and begin maintaining them we can live this dream. We will have the power to do good in our lives and to help others find happiness in their lives. We will earn the privileges of life and be secure in what we have obtained because we have the protecting wall of peace that comes from our inherent rights. These inherent rights are truly the key to having a life filled with joy and goodness. To some it may seem like too simple a solution to all the hardships of life, but, after all, “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.”
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